Election Result

New Margin: LIB 17.2%

MP

Alex Hawke (LIB) since 2007.

Profile

Mitchell is a socially conservative electorate in the Hills district of north-western Sydney. It includes Baulkham Hills, Castle Hill, Winston Hills, parts of Northmead and North Rocks, as well as the formerly rural but now rapidly growing new housing estates around Kellyville and Rouse Hill. Covers 101 sq.km.

Redistribution

In the north Mitchell loses parts of Dural, Kenthurst and Annangrove to Berowra, gaining parts of Winston Hills and Northmead in the south from Parramatta. The Liberal margin declines from 11.6% to an estimated 9.6%.

History/Trivia

Created in 1949, Mitchell is named after Sir Thomas Mitchell, a noted early explorer and surveyor. Originally a semi-rural electorate, it is now concentrated in Sydney's Hills district, a conservative area that contains much of the city's 'bible belt'.

2006 Census Notes

At 48.1%, Mitchell has the highest rate of couple families with dependent children, and at 5% the lowest proportion of single parent families with dependent children.

Assessment

Liberal retain.

2010 BALLOT PAPER (4 Candidates)

Candidate Name

Party

PRENTICE, Brendon Phillip

Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group)

GOULD, Nigel

Labor

HAWKE, Alex

Liberal

DAWSON, Colin

The Greens

CANDIDATES

Nigel Gould

Australian Labor Party

50 year-old former plant operator from Castle Hill who also contested this seat at the 2007 election. Gould says he will be running a grass roots campaign and states thatin 2007 he lost 7 1/2 kilos and wore out three pairs of shoes door-knocking.

Aged 33, Hawke grew up in the north-western Hills district of Sydney covered by the electorate of Mitchell. A former President of both the NSW and National Young Liberals, he has been viewed as a spear carrier of the NSW right of the Liberal Party, having re-captured the Young Liberals from the control of the party's left. Hawke worked on the staff of right-wing Liberal MLC David Clarke, but had only a low profile outside of Liberal Party circles. His profile was increased when former NSW Liberal leader John Brogden named Hawke as the person who had distributed the damaging story about Brogden's behaviour that led to Brogden's resignation. Hawke denied he was the source. Since Hawke's election to parliament, a split between him and mentor Clarke has seen the right faction of the NSW Liberals fracture. The internal party tensions this split has caused have created more headlines mentioning Hawke than any of his activities in Federal parliament.

Dawson has lived in Sydney's north-west for 15 years and is interested in sustainable development and transport to the region. Dawson has a background in aviation electronics and communication and currently manages a family business.